Frost by Kate Avery Ellison Read Free Book Online Page A

reading the rules aloud. I took a deep breath and let it out. All was not lost yet. I still had time to sort this out. I would think of something.
    Beside me, Cole was fidgeting, which made me feel a little better. At least I was not the only person who hated Assemblies.
    The Mayor finished the list of rules and moved on to the courtship and marriage lists. Cole shifted as the names were read aloud. He snuck a glance at me, and I pretended not to notice.
    When the readings were finished, the Mayor surveyed the crowd. “We have an important matter to discuss,” he said.
    My heart began to pound, although I knew it was irrational. I had just come from the farm. The barn was undisturbed. We were at the edge of the Frost. No one knew about the Farther in our barn except Jonn, Ivy, and me.
    But my palms turned clammy with dread anyway.
    “There have been increased reports of Watcher tracks lately.”
    The room seemed to shrink a little as the word left his lips. Everyone flinched, some muttered. I remembered the tracks across the yard and around the house. Watchers had been in our yard, too. My stomach felt sick and my heart began to beat faster, like a pounding hand against the wall of my chest.
    Ann looked at me, her head cocked to one side. I gave her a weak smile, trying to swallow a little of my panic.
    “Any member of the community who is out early or late must exercise extreme caution—carry snow blossoms at all times, and be sure to hang them on your doors and windows.” He paused, his gaze sweeping the hall, and I swear it lingered a moment on me. “There have been some reports of sightings, even. This boldness is troubling. We do not know what has caused the Watchers to become so active, but we do know that everyone needs to be more careful at this time.”
    A few of the people around me began whispering. I saw the worried glances, the wide eyes. The Farmers and others who lived on the outskirts of the community looked most unsettled, because they were the ones most likely to encounter one of the creatures.
    “Don’t be unduly alarmed,” the Mayor continued, flashing the crowd a reassuring smile now. “Simply be prepared. Follow the rules and work hard. Safety, fraternity, integrity.”
    We repeated it after him. Safety, fraternity, integrity . It was our village motto and highest code. Because of our high level of organization and our strong set of rules, we’d survived when other communities here had failed.
    Guilt stabbed at my heart as I spoke the words, because I had failed the first imperative—safety. I might have failed the last, too, because I was harboring the Farther in my barn and I was keeping him a secret. But I didn’t know what else to do—I’d picked up a rock snake, and I was afraid to let it go lest I be bitten and killed.
    We were dismissed after repeating the motto. Villagers stood and streamed for the doors, whispering about the Watchers or discussing the courtship lists. I sat in my place, feeling miserable and numb.
    Ann grabbed my arm and clung to it tightly, as if she would be safe as long as she hung onto me. “Can you believe the news about the Watchers?”
    “It’s frightening,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. In my mind’s eye I kept seeing the tracks in front of the barn. Sometimes I felt a little resentful of Ann. She lived in the town and the Watchers were just a scary story here. It was the ones who lived on the edges of the village grounds that had to really worry. People like me, people who were already struggling to meet quota and feed their families.
    “Will your family be safe?”
    “We’ll be fine,” I murmured. I thought of the Farther in the barn again, and my stomach tightened. Right now, I had worse problems on my mind.
    Apparently my lackluster response failed to satisfy her. “Lia,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “Are you all right? You seem...distant.”
    “I’m just thinking,” I replied, standing and giving my skirt a